~ CLUB AGM ~
The Aodh Ruadh CLG AGM will take place on Saturday 10th December at 6pm in ARAS AOIDH RUAIDH. Please note change of venue. Everyone who is in any way interested in the playing, development and promotion of Gaelic Games and the propagation of Gaelic culture in Ballyshannon is warmly invited to attend. Motions put forward for the AGM are as follows.

That the existing finance committee is re-structured as the Debt Elimination Committee, with a brief to deal with the overall club debts, with particular emphasis on capital borrowing and legacy local creditors. A minimum of four meetings each to an agreed schedule.Tom Daly

That the club adopt an incentivised lotto scheme whereby players are given a set number of lotto tickets to sell for a monthly lotto draw with the incentive being to receive half the value back in the form of a voucher to be spent with sports retailers approved by the club for the purposes of this scheme.Bord na nÓg

A direct debit option be made available to collect club membership annually. This should be voluntary to members, however all members and potential members should be offered the option by post. Scheme to be advertised to the general public by club notes/e- mail.Packie McGrath

A direct debit option be made available to sell club lotto weekly, using the same set of numbers weekly. All club members should be offered the option by post, and non-club members who buy the club lotto regularly should also be given a formal invite. Scheme advertised to the general public by club notes/e- mail.Packie McGrath

Adult tickets for inter-county games, which are distributed by the club, should incur a charge of €2 per ticket to non-club members. Club members should receive up to two tickets each without incurring a charge, further tickets should be charged. All u-16/children's tickets should incur no charge.Packie McGrath

That €2 be collected from each player from underage to senior attending training or a match. The €2 to be entered into the lotto draw each week. The money to be collected by the team managers via lotto envelope.Terence McShea

That a transport officer be appointed to oversee transport provision in the club.Terence McShea

That the under 21s compete in the B championship in 2012Shane Ward

~ FOOTBALL ~
Indoor training continues this Friday 9nd December. Under 6s are in the Marian Hall at Scoil Chatriona from 6pm to 6.45pm followed by the under 8s from 6.45pm to 7.30pm, also in the Marian Hall. 2011 under 10s are training in the new hall at Colaiste Cholmcille from 6pm to 7pm. That session is followed by the 2011 under 12s and under 13s from 7pm to 8pm, also in the new hall. There is a charge of €2 per head. Please bring runners as no other footwear allowed. Parents/Guardians are asked to please collect children promptly after their session is finished.

~ HURLING ~
Aodh Ruadh Juvenile Hurling Committee held it's AGM last Wednesday. A full review of a very successful 2011 was held and plans were put in place for what is hoped to be a busy 2012 on and off the field for underage hurling in Aodh Ruadh. The following positions were filled at the meeting.
Chairman: John Rooney.
Vice-Chairman: Pat Faherty.
Secretary: Eddie Lynch.
Assistant Secretary: Pauric Keenaghan.
Under 8 management: Pauric Keenaghan and Dennis Daly.
Under 10 management: Eddie Lynch and Chris Kelly.
Under 12 management: Michael Ayres and Kevin Mc Dermott.
Under 14 management: John Rooney.
Under 16 management: To be confirmed at January meeting.
Minor management: To be confirmed at January meeting.
Committee: All of the above plus Billy Finn, Peter Horan and Kevin Loughlin.

Colaiste Cholmcille under 15 and a half hurlers play their long awaited Ulster Final this Friday against Abbey CBS Newry in Cookstown. The lads will be up against it in this game, but knowing them they will give their all in their attempts to bring a first hurling title to the school.

~ LADIES ~
Aodh Ruadh Ladies senior, minor and under 16 training will take place in the Mercy Hall Tuesday evening at 7.15pm. There will be a €3 charge per person in order to cover the cost of the hall.

Under 8 and under 10 training will take place in the Mercy Hall at Colaiste Cholmcille from 6pm to 6.45pm followed by the under 12s from 6.45pm to 7.30pm, also in the Mercy Hall. There is a charge of €2 per head. Please bring runners as no other footwear allowed. Parents/Guardians are asked to please collect children promptly after their session is finished.

The Aodh Ruadh Ladies will hold their AGM on Thursday 29th of December in Áras Aoidh Ruaidh at 5pm. All members are asked to attend.

~ CLUB AGM ~
Aodh Ruadh CLG held its AGM on Saturday 10th December in Aras Aoidh Ruaidh. There was an attendance of 38 present for what was a constructive and positive AGM. The following officers were appointed:

Also voted onto the club committee were Pat Malaniff, Dinny Loughlin, Sean O'Mahoney, Stephen Ward, Padraig Keenaghan, Pat McGrath, Louis Boyle, John Patton and PJ Patton. It was then voted to return all in attendance to the club committee en bloc. The Park Committee were returned en bloc, the only exception being the post of Bingo Treasurer which was left over to the first meeting of new committee, while appointment of team managers was also left over to the first monthly club meeting. The motions progressed as follows.

That the existing finance committee is re-structured as the Debt Elimination Committee, with a brief to deal with the overall club debts, with particular emphasis on capital borrowing and legacy local creditors. A minimum of four meetings each to an agreed schedule. PASSED

The text of this motion was amended as follows. That the club adopt a pilot incentivised lotto scheme for 2012 whereby one team per sub-committee are given a set number of lotto tickets to sell for a monthly lotto draw, with the incentive being to receive 25 percent of the value sold back in the form of a voucher to be spent with sports retailers approved by the club for the purposes of this scheme. PASSED

A direct debit option be made available to collect club membership annually. This should be voluntary to members, however all members and potential members should be offered the option by post. Scheme to be advertised to the general public by club notes/e- mail. REFERRED TO FINANCE COMMITTEE

A direct debit option be made available to sell club lotto weekly, using the same set of numbers weekly. All club members should be offered the option by post, and non-club members who buy the club lotto regularly should also be given a formal invite. Scheme advertised to the general public by club notes/e- mail. REFERRED TO FINANCE COMMITTEE

Adult tickets for inter-county games, which are distributed by the club, should incur a charge of €2 per ticket to non-club members. Club members should receive up to two tickets each without incurring a charge, further tickets should be charged. All u-16/children's tickets should incur no charge. WITHDRAWN

That €2 be collected from each player from underage to senior attending training or a match. The €2 to be entered into the lotto draw each week. The money to be collected by the team managers via lotto envelope. WITHDRAWN

That a transport officer be appointed to oversee transport provision in the club. WITHDRAWN IN FAVOUR PROPOSAL THAT TRANSPORT BE PUT OUT TO TENDER

That the under 21s compete in the B championship in 2012 PASSED

~ FOOTBALL ~
Indoor training continues this Friday 16th December. This is the last session before the Christmas break. Under 6s are in the Marian Hall at Scoil Chatriona from 6pm to 6.45pm followed by the under 8s from 6.45pm to 7.30pm, also in the Marian Hall. 2011 under 10s are training in the new hall at Colaiste Cholmcille from 6pm to 7pm. That session is followed by the 2011 under 12s and under 13s from 7pm to 8pm, also in the new hall. There is a charge of €2 per head. Please bring runners as no other footwear allowed. Parents/Guardians are asked to please collect children promptly after their session is finished.

~ HURLING ~
Two of our eagerly anticipated annual events are taking place this week.

On Thursday night 15th December we have our fund-raising quiz in Owen Roe's, the fun and questions start at 9.30pm. with Karl Duggan acting as quiz master. As usual we have loads of raffle prizes some of which would make lovely Christmas presents. Anyone who can't make quiz but would like to get tickets for the raffle please contact John Rooney 086-2587793.

On Friday night 16th December we have our Juvenile Hurling Presentation night in Aras Aoidh Ruaidh begining at 8pm. this is our fourth year holding this event, and after the great success of last years event with Davy Fitzgerald, this year we have another legend gracing our event. Seven time All-Ireland medal winner and nine time all-Star winner Tommy Walsh will be busy presenting medals on the night to our juvenile hurlers. It's a great honour to have a modern day legend grace our event. Anyone interested in meeting Tommy are welcome to this event which celebrates our juvenile hurlers achievements in 2011. It is hoped that the Kilkenny great will conduct a training session on Saturday morning.

Unfortunately Colaiste Colmcille's Ulster hurling final fell victim of the weather last Friday. As yet, we have no details of when the game will be played.

~ LADIES ~
Aodh Ruadh Ladies senior, minor and under 16 training will take place in the Mercy Hall Tuesday evening at 7.15pm. There will be a €3 charge per person in order to cover the cost of the hall.

Under 8 and under 10 training will take place in the Mercy Hall at Colaiste Cholmcille from 6pm to 6.45pm followed by the under 12s from 6.45pm to 7.30pm, also in the Mercy Hall. This is the last session before the Christmas break. There is a charge of €2 per head. Please bring runners as no other footwear allowed. Parents/Guardians are asked to please collect children promptly after their session is finished.

The Aodh Ruadh Ladies will hold their AGM on Thursday 29th of December in Áras Aoidh Ruaidh at 5pm. All members are asked to attend.

~ BIG BAD INTERACTIVE FUN QUIZ ~
The best excuse to get out of the house over Christmas is back! Aodh Ruadh are running a Big Bad Interactive YouTube Pub Quiz in Dicey Reilly's on Thursday 29th December. Using the big screens in Dicey there will be live action rounds on a wide variety of fun topics. The emphasis will be very much on fun, craic and having a much needed laugh. We'll have big prizes on the night and some refreshing spot prizes to be won too. The action gets under way at 9pm, see you there!

~ PARK COMMITTEE AGM ~
The Annual General Meeting of the Park/Development Committee of the club took place in association with the Club AGM in Áras Aoidh Ruaidh on December 10th. A comprehensive activity report was presented including current and capital accounts. Turn-over accounted for in excess of €500,000. Key highlights included Aodh Ruadh's role in providing employment opportunities for 28 people through its management of a Community Employment Scheme and a Rural Social Scheme. This involves partnership working with four other voluntary groups in South Donegal covering Sports, Care of the Elderly, Child-care and the Arts. The availability of a schools coach, dedicated to the schools in the club area, was a major boost during the year. 2011 saw the finalisation of accounts in relation to the new Pairc Aoidh Ruaidh Project, officially opened in 2009 at a cost of €600,000. The successful Scrap Saturday initiative organised by the Committee made a big contribution to debt reduction arising from this major development. Very significant work continued on constructing a detailed historical archive for each year of Aodh Ruadh's 102 years of existence. In this regard an appeal is again made to club members help locate some of the files relating to the Donegal Democrat research which were taken out over the years to prepare for annual functions and the Saint Joseph's commemorative booklet. Only a few club members would have been involved in drawing out these files which contain typed-up transcripts from the Donegal Democrat relating to club activities over the years. Some years have gone missing. Assistance in locating them would be appreciated and they should be returned to Tom Daly who continues to lead-out on and oversee this work.

Finally, the successful summer camp run by the Committee saw 16 young people from the area temporarily employed for a three week period with huge levels of participation by young people from the area.

~ HURLING ~
For the last four years Aodh Ruadh Juvenile Hurling Committee has hosted an annual presentation night with some of the leading names in hurling attending the annual presentation. Friday last was no different when the legendary Tommy Walsh from Kilkenny visited the club. The seven time All-Ireland medal winner and nine time All-Star winner impressed all with his modesty and gave young and old his full attention during his visit to Aras Aoidh Ruaidh. He was accompanied by his dad Michael Walsh and both lads were great ambassadors for Kilkenny hurling. We have a full report and over 50 pictures from a great night for the club up.

Aodh Ruadh Juvenile Hurling Committee held their annual quiz in Owen Roe's on Thursday last. As usual there was a great crowd in attendance with 13 tables taking part in the quiz. We want to thank all who attended on the night and thank those who couldn't attend but made contributions to the fund. Many thanks to Karl Duggan who set the questions and acted as quiz master. Thanks to Belleek Pottery who again donated beautiful pieces from their collection for the winners' prizes this year. We thank them for their continued support. Once again the local business community provided us with a huge amount of raffle prizes and again we thank them and encourage all to support our local businesses in the run up to Christmas. The following businesses donated prizes Rooney's Butchers, James Kerrigan Photography, Novel Idea, JR's Cafe, Cuttin' Crew, Bundoran, Mace, Sean Óg's, Dicey Reilly's, Abbey Garage, Mr. G's, Golden Dragon Restaurant, Dorrian's Pharmacy, Ballybookies, Nugent Construction, Kernan's Spar, Bridge End Bar, Pearse O'Neill's. A great night of craic was had by all and well done to the winning team of Declan Rooney, Colman Kerr, Paddy Kelly and DD Drummond.

Aodh Ruadh Juvenile Hurling Committee are organising a recycling drive of used aluminium cans (soft drinks and alcoholic) for 2012, to raise much needed funds for Aodh Ruadh CLG and to reduce the debts on the recent development of Páirc Aoidh Ruaidh. This recycling drive will hopefully raise funds and will also improve the environment, notes will be distributed during the week and local businesses will be approached with a view to supporting this project. We will be holding fortnightly collections where the cans be brought to be recycled, the first collection will be held on Saturday the 7th January 2012 at Father Tierney Park, Ballyshannon from 12 noon to 1pm. As we are entering the festive season we would encourage every household in the area to hold onto their aluminium cans for this recycling effort. Anyone that has cans to be collected or requires anymore information can contact John Rooney (086-2587793), Pauric Keenaghan (086-8491540) or Kieran Drummond (086-2368295). Remember, hold onto all your empty aluminium cans and help raise much needed funds for the club while also helping the local environment!

Condolences to the McHenry family Bundoran on the death of Riona's Mum Yvonne O'Connor in Ballycastle, grandmother of Aoise, Peadar and Brian.

~ LADIES ~
The Aodh Ruadh Ladies will hold their AGM on Thursday 29th of December in Áras Aoidh Ruaidh at 5pm. All members are asked to attend.

~ BIG BAD INTERACTIVE FUN QUIZ ~
The best excuse to get out of the house over Christmas is back! Aodh Ruadh are running a Big Bad Interactive YouTube Pub Quiz in Dicey Reilly's on Thursday 29th December. Using the big screens in Dicey there will be live action rounds on a wide variety of fun topics. The emphasis will be very much on fun, craic and having a much needed laugh. We'll have big prizes on the night and some refreshing spot prizes to be won too. The action gets under way at 9pm, see you there!

~ DONEGAL YEARBOOK ~
Donegal Yearbooks are now on sale in Pearse O'Neill's, priced €10. The perfect stocking filler for the GAA fan in your life!

~ SEASON'S GREETINGS ~
Aodh Ruadh wishes all associated with the club and everyone in the wider Ballyshannon community a happy, peaceful Christmas and a prosperous New Year.